Living Our Adventures

Building a driveway

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Craig

Finally things are underway again. After weeks of watching the weather luck was finally on my side and I managed to get a weekend with no rain in Violet Town, and nothing else on!!

I have been watching the weather religiously the last few weeks, and believe it or not barely any rain has fallen this month, so the place had dried out just enough. My biggest concern was the cold… was one degree Friday night/Saturday morning!

Anyway, after work on friday I headed straight out to the rental place in Ferntree Gully to pick up the excavator, then headed home to pack. Fi had a haircut booked, so it was well after 8pm by the time I said farewell to the family and headed to Little Duna.

Was an easy drive with not much traffic, and I made good time on the road, arriving about 10:30pm. I opened the gate, slipped the car into 4WD-Lo and headed in. I stayed off the driveway knowing it was a bit slushy, but it didn’t matter because I got about halfway in when suddenly the car stopped moving… I was bogged 🙁

Lucky I had the winch, and after about 30 mins of winching and driving, I managed to pull the car and excavator out of a very deep rut… well it was deep by the time I finished!!

I setup camp and got a fire going to chase away the cold. As I had to tow the excavator, I couldn’t bring my caravan with me, so I was rouging it in “Brock ’05”, the old caravan we purchased. Was comfortable enough to sleep in, but I had no kitchen, shower, toilet etc so while not as rough as I have done it, it is roughing it compared to what I am used to.

Shortly after midnight I called it a night thinking that it wasn’t as cold as what I thought it would be… maybe it was just a few cans keeping me warm because nature called about 3am, and boy was it cold!!! Felt like I was at the snow!! My sleeping bag is rated to -5 degrees and I was snuggled down inside it with a blanket over the top to keep warm.

So, Saturday morning I woke to a very cold start. I threw a couple of logs on the fire while I waited for the kettle to boil and once I could move my fingers again I set about getting the excavator off the trailer. Unfortunately getting bogged last night meant I had sprayed the excavator with mud, so I had to clean the seat before I could even start. I got it off the trailer and had a bit of a play to figure out how it worked… all that time in the sandpit as a kid paid off and it wasn’t long before I was a competent excavator driver.

I set off towards the driveway to get to work. Now I had planned to take a lot of videos this weekend, but unfortunately as I was taking my first one, my phone died!! I was planning to walk the driveway to give you all an idea of what lay ahead, but I guess my phone had other ideas, so I just kept on working. I switched it back on later that day and there was nothing wrong with it… go figure… maybe it was just too cold for it!!

This photo gives you an idea of what lay beyond where the other video cut out… a boggy mess.

So Saturday was spent trying to learn how to fix a road. I gave up at one stage and spent an hour digging a hole to bury the left over rubbish from the bon fire. Now that was fun, and I honed my skills before heading back to tackle the driveway.

It was slow going, and by the end of the day at 5pm when I called it quits I hadn’t got as much as I would have liked done. What I did figure out in the last hour was how to build the road. I basically had to dig a lot of loose soil from the mound by the front dam, then pick it up one bucket at a time and drive it at walking pace to the road and return for another bucket. Took forever given how slow the excavator moved 🙁 Each trip wasted precious minutes. I probably got about a tenth of the driveway done by dusk on Saturday.

Disheartened I packed up and sat around the fire having a much needed beverage. Then it hit me, tomorrow I should dig loads of soil free, then just do trips back and forth to get the soil onto the road.

Pleased that I had a good plan, I changed and headed to the pub for a counter meal… I was roughing it remember… no cooking for me!! (I didnt even bring food!!!)

Had an awesome steak at the Violet Town pub… really it could have been horrible but not having eaten all day it was the best steak ever! The pub had a real country feel to it, and I loved watching the barman who had a one for you one for me approach to pouring beer! Only something you will see in the country!

Anyway, I woke Sunday morning and once again defrosted my fingers by the fire while the kettle boiled, then as soon as I could I was off to execute my plan from the day before.

Was very slow going and I spent most of the day going back and forth, back and forth. Boy was it boring… took all my will power to not give up out of boredom, but in the end it paid off and by 5pm I was done. While I could barely feel my legs from sitting all day, and right now I can still feel the jolt and sway of the excavator, (feels like when you have been on a boat), but at least we have the base of a driveway ready to bring the crushed rock in.

I was even able to drive out on it, although it was still a little soft in spots.

Done for the weekend, I packed up, loaded the excavator and headed home, arriving about 8:30pm, just in time to kiss the kids goodnight… then it was straight into the shower for stinky old me!

Hehe… well I had better finish this off and head to bed, as I have to have the excavator back before 7:00am tomorrow morning.

Before I go though I’ll tell you what is next.

So, next weekend I will need to do a day trip up with a trailer load of carpet.

Yes, you heard me… carpet! My neighbour (in Melbourne) has a carpet shop, and he is putting aside about 60m of old carpet next week that he is pulling out of peoples homes. I’ll take this carpet and use it as a foundation on the soft bits of the driveway to stop the crushed rock from disappearing into the ground.

The following weekend, I’ll return once more as it will be time to spread the rock. Now this will be a challenge as the quarry doesn’t open on the weekend which means I may have to take the friday off. I’ll arrange for 33 tonne of crushed rock (about 20m cubed) to be delivered and will need to get a bobcat this time to spread the rock in a good layer. Hopefully won’t be as time consuming as the slow old excavator!!

Anyway, the driveway has finally started, although still a bit to do before Giovanni can get in and finish the slab!!

Cheers.

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Ferntree Gully, Little Duna, Violet Town | 1 Comment

Water Tank

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Craig

Today we had the water tank delivered 🙂

Left home about 10:30am this morning for an easy trip up the Hume to Violet Town and as fate would have it, we were finally in town on a Market day!

Zac and I dropped Fi, Vicki, Tara and Jess off at the market about 12:30. Unfortunately arriving so late, they only had about 30 minutes to explore the market which was absolutely huge! I must admit I only saw the edge of the market, but from what they reported it was fantastic. Produce, wine, food, craft, this place had everything, and we must make a special effort to be in town on a market day in the future so we can explore it properly.

While the girls explored the market, Zac and I continued on to Little Duna. We had the trailer and a load of Red Gum sleepers to drop off for future burning. Had a very slow trip onto the block in 4WD-Lo as the driveway is slowly getting worse and worse each time we come in or out 🙁 I really must get up there with an excavator soon before we make too much mess and can’t repair it.

We had just off loaded the wood and using the trailer taken another load of wood over to camp when we got the call to meet the girls in the cafe in town for lunch. After lunch, Tara, Jess and I headed back to the block while Fi, Vicki and Zac opted to walk back. Wasn’t long before I got a phone call from them “Water tank is coming up the road” Fi exclaimed as I answered.

I drove back to the front gate with the trailer and met the truck with a massive tank on the back. With the drive the way it was, there was no way he was coming in the gate, so we had to roll the tank off into the trailer so I could drive it up the back. The driver claimed that we were not the only ones in this situation, and every delivery he had done that day was a “roll off”.

Wasn’t long and we had the 200kg tank securely on the trailer. Much easier then when I got the shed delivered! We drove very slowly up to the shed site, rolled the tank off the back and lashed it to a tree so it won’t blow away. Guess it will have to stay there for the next few months until the driveway is fixed and the slab is laid.

Took a couple of photos of the tank with Tara and Vicki so you can get an idea of the size. Tank will hold 10,000 litres and I must say I am keen to get it in place with the shed up before the end of the wet season because at this rate we will have no chance of catching any real water before summer 🙁

Anyway, did a few more loads of wood while I had the trailer so we will have a good supply for the next fire or two when the block finally dries enough to come up camping again. Am hoping if we can get a week or so with no rain I will be able to head up with and excavator and get to work repairing the driveway. Really was very wet again this time round…

Oh yea, had to take a photo of the creek down the road, once again it was well and truly flowing!! Still no driving through it, think it is worse than my trip up here when the shed was delivered!

…until next time 🙂

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Little Duna, Red Gum | Leave a comment

What a mess!!

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Craig

This morning, Zac and I took an early morning drive to Violet Town to drop off the “Guest House” to its new home, giving me back my driveway at home!!!!

We had had a late night at the O’Loans last night (pizza and beer), not getting home until about midnight, so was a little hard to get up this morning. Was a slow start, but we managed to get on the road just before 8am. Zac obviously didn’t have enough sleep, as it wasn’t long before he was out cold in the passenger seat. With impeccable timing, he woke as we turned off the Hume into Violet Town… good travel company he was!!!!

LOL – I just had to take a picture!!

Anyway, we had a good easy run up with little traffic. As I arrived at the block, the first thing I noticed was the Ranbuild sign that had been hung on the front fence… second thing I noticed was the mess of a driveway!!

That wasn’t the worst of it either, so I flicked the car over to 4wd (lucky I got new all terrain tyres this week!) and we slowly made our way to the back of the block. Wasn’t too bad coming in, although I had to drive off to the side of the driveway due to the mess the concreter left when he got bogged. Watch the video further down to see it!

Anyway, Zac and I selected a good new home for the Guesthouse, stabilised it and locked it up securely. Now it looks a little crooked in this photo, but it is just the lay of the land and the van is actually fairly level inside.

Don’t you love the two brown marks up the front from the potholes on the road!!! That wasn’t even from the driveway!!!

Once the van was in place, we locked it up and headed over to play on the quad bike. I had got a new tool to adjust the suspension and wanted to give it a go while we were there… was also an excuse to go for a quick spin!

As I started to remove the tarp, I got the fright of my life as a very small bunny came running out and shot back under the tarp again!!! I jumped and Zac laughed at me!

This rabbit obviously found a nice dry warm place to live under the bike, and while I expected it to bolt when I pulled the tarp off, it didn’t. You could see it was stressed though and it kept running around and around the rear tyre trying to hide. I managed to shoot a quick photo below.

Was only a baby really!! The rabbit refused to give up his nice new home, even when I climbed up on the bike, but he soon bolted as I fired up the engine!!!

I adjusted the suspension and Zac and I climbed on to go and explore the block. Was a lot less water then when I had been up here last. The creek still had water in it but wasn’t flowing with the gusto it had last time, and neither was the other side of the dam.

We stopped by the shed site, and you could see where Giovani had finished preparing for the slab pour before getting bogged.

Only other thing to check out was the driveway, and what a mess. You can clearly see where he got bogged and the logs and sticks he used to try to get himself out! By the way, that never really works… if you get bogged, very rarely can you get enough traction from a log, all you do is end up getting more and more bogged.

Anyway, I took this video to give you an idea of what it now looks like. Going to have my work cut out for me when I get up there with a bobcat! I think I need one on tracks looking at the mess that was once a driveway. Either way, as you can see in the video, a driveway must be put in even just to repair the damage done before it goes all hard in summer.

Try not to laugh too much at the end when my hands were so cold I couldn’t get the video to stop!!!!

So that’s it, we left Little Duna about lunchtime, Zac slept for another hour in the car (didn’t get a photo this time) and we were home by 2pm.

I have to head back up next weekend as the water tank is being delivered. Not sure what will happened there and I’ll have to call the supplier in the next few days to have a chat as I doubt he will get anything resembling a truck in there at the moment. Maybe we can get it off the truck at the gate and I can move it onto the block myself.

Also, hopefully next week I can get to work, hire a bobcat (or font end loader) and start fixing this driveway so building can start again.

Until next week… have fun 🙂

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Guest House, Violet Town | 1 Comment

On Hold and a Guest House!

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Craig

Well yesterday I received the call from the builder I was dreading….

The shed building is on hold until September unless I can put a driveway in.

The concreter visited the block on Wednesday to complete the pouring of the slab, but the driveway was still too wet and boggy so the concrete truck refused to even enter the property! Worse yet, the concreter got his smaller truck bogged and had to get towed out!

Understandably he is now refusing to return until September when the ground has had a chance to dry.

Not good, and I was so pissed off when I got the call. My only option is to build a gravel driveway from the front gate to the shed location. Shouldn’t be too hard, it is only about 300 metres!!!!

So I spent a few hours yesterday and last night researching how to build a road. While Fi laughed when I told her what I had been doing, I actually found it really interesting, and learned a lot about what is involved.

So the plan now is to find a free weekend where I can head up, hire a bobcat and spend some time preparing the path. I’ll need to bring some dirt/clay from around the dams to build up the path a little and fill in the holes. Will also need to run some drainage channels to take the excess water away. I would expect this to be a full weekends worth of work, but I am actually looking forward to mucking around with a bobcat (yes as my wife points out I am really a frustrated tradie stuck in an IT job!!!!!)

Anyway, once the path is ready, I’ll need to order a truckload of gravel. I rang around yesterday and discovered there is a Quarry just 5km south of Violet Town 🙂

When I rang them for a rough quote, I was pleasently surprised!! From my estimation using google maps to measure, basing it on a 2.5m wide driveway, roughly 300m long I think I will need just under 7 cubic metres of gravel. Expecting a quote of about $800-$1200, I was shocked when Janet from Violet Town Quarry explained she could deliver 13 tonnes (about 8-9 cubic metres) for about $220-$250!!!! Fantastic!!! She even said it might be a little cheaper!!!

We had a good chat about it and I will need two truck loads delivered, the first one 60mm crushed rock to give a good solid base and help with drainage, then a second delivery of 20mm stone to finish the driving surface. The rock is delivered in a tip truck, and essentially they drive the road with the tailgate open and spread the gravel along the path. In between each load I will need to smooth the rock and press it once again using the bobcat.

The key to ensuring the road stays where it was put though is vegetation. From what I have learnt, the sooner you plant grass to the edge of the road, the sooner there is a good root system in place to absorb/slow the water and prevent erosion.

So all up it should cost me around $1000 including machine hire and gravel, an unplanned expense at this time, but a worthy investment that we would have to do before too long anyway.

So I expect I will be spending a few weekends at the block in the coming weeks to get the driveway in place so building can recommence sooner rather than later. I am actually looking forward to the project and will try to remember to take lots of photos and videos of the process to post up here.

In other news, shortly we will have a new kids bedroom/guest house at Little Duna!! That’s right, last weekend we purchased an old caravan on ebay. The van is very basic with no kitchen etc, but essentially what we are after is beds, so we have somewhere for friends to come up and stay, or for if the kids want to bring their friends up.

I have had to do some minor repairs to the van, such as more slats on the beds (was a pretty sloppy rebuild job), and we will need a new mattress, but it is almost ready to tow to its new home.

Below are some photos from Ebay…

So anyway that is my quick lunchtime update on what’s going on. I’m sure there will be a lot more updates in the coming week as the road building project begins and we get the guesthouse to its new location 🙂

PS – still pissed about the shed!!!

Categories: Adventures | Tags: IT | Leave a comment

So much is happening!!

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Craig

Ok so I’m sorry, I never finished the last weekend at Little Duna 🙁

Truth was it was simply too cold to write at night up there that weekend… no seriously sitting around the fire if I took my hands out of my pockets they literally froze and I couldn’t type!! To put it in perspective, on the Sunday night as I was sitting around the fire I checked the weather and it was 0.8 degrees!!! Lovely around the fire, but bloody cold every time I went to the car for another can!!!!

Anyway, to sum it up, Fi finally got up to join us about 3:30pm, pissed off because her course had been cancelled in lieu of the long weekend and they had forgotten to call us!! She could have come up Friday night with us after all. I spent the day Saturday chopping fire wood and lugging it back to camp, and lucky I did because we lit the fire about 1pm each day! The sun was lovely (at one stage I considered putting shorts on, but as soon as you got in the shade it was freezing!!

Sunday, Mark and Chris came up with the kids and we had a fun day playing around the block and riding through the mud on the quad bike. I put Mark to work cutting and collecting wood as we had burnt off most of what I had collected the day before. With two of us going we were able to build a decent stockpile before the chainsaw was simply too blunt to cut more.

Monday, well we packed up and came home. Somehow it still managed to take most of the day to pack down (really can’t wait until we get the shed).

So Monday night I had every intention of updating the blog, but I was too tired by the time I got home and they we just got busy with life, so I didn’t get a chance to update it until now, and as the title says… So much is happening!!!

Tuesday was an exciting day as the permits for the shed arrived!! Very exciting!! I also got a notification that the shed kit would be delivered on the 25th of June (yes that is today!), and speaking to Ranbuild over the next few days they advised that Giovanni the concreter (yes I know surprised me he was a Greek!) would be in touch to arrange to lay the slab.

Finally it felt like things were getting underway.

Also, in the last few weeks, I had ordered a new Generator as my old camping one had finally gone Ka-put! This time I ordered a slightly larger one, a 10 KVA generator with 6 240V outlets!! This thing is big enough to run your house, so it should have no trouble running our shed, and caravan and anyone else’s caravan that comes up to join us!

Problem was, although it was classed as “Silent”, my definition of silent and theirs is a little different. At about 80 decibels it is actually as silent as standing next to a petrol lawn mower!!! Also, weighing in at 180kg’s this thing is simply to big and to heavy to lug back and forth. So I spent the last few weekends building an insulated box to house it. There are some pictures of the final product further on…

I also got a little creative with the welder Sunday afternoon and created a Little Duna sign for the block. Not much, but at least it now has and official name until we can get a better one.

Anyway, today was the big day. I had taken a day of annual leave, but unfortunately no one else was able to join me for a day at the block. Last night, Fi and Kelly who was over for her Birthday dinner (Happy Birthday Kel) helped me to load the generator and housing onto the trailer so I could take it up today.

Now I should point out that yesterday was a wild day. Winds tore through the State, well over 100kms per hour gusts, and coupled with the rain there was flooding all over the place. I was watching the radar all day as the rain sat over Violet Town, quietly cursing and not looking forward to my day up there with no shelter. When I awoke this morning about 7am, it was pissing down, so I decided to go back to bed, letting Fi have the first shower. Lucky I did as by the time I pushed out the driveway, it had stopped raining and I had a good run all the way up the Hume. Only rain I saw was the spray from other cars, and luckily the wind wasn’t too bad with the box and generator strapped to the trailer.

I arrived in VT about 10:30am, stopping in town long enough to grab a Bacon and Egg sandwich and coffee from the café and a can of spray paint for the sign, before heading out to Little Duna. First thing I noticed as I arrived was just how much water was around the place! I thought it was bad last time, but there was definitely a lot more water around this time! Was some BIG puddles to drive through coming up the driveway!

I parked near the location for the shed and had just finished my sandwich when I got a call on the mobile “Yea mate, I got a delivery for you but can’t find the address…”

“Wow… that was quick” I thought as I walked down to the front gate talking him along the road. As I approached the tuck sitting out the front I thought to myself “Umm… where is the shed??”

Turns out this was the reinforcement for the slab!

I jumped in the truck and got a lift back to the shed site as the truck slipped along what was now becoming a muddy track where he dropped his load before chewing his way back through the mud on his way out… “Hope that wasn’t the only reason I had come up here…” I thought disappointedly.

Oh, almost forgot… before that phone call as I was just about to eat I got a phone call from Tom from Bushman’s tanks “Hi Craig, would you believe we have a truck heading up to Benalla tomorrow and we want to drop your tank off. Need you to be there to meet us…”

“Oh my GOD!!!” I thought. “But I’m here today, not tomorrow!!!!” How typical!

We had a laugh and I arranged to meet them on Saturday 12th July instead. At least being a Saturday I don’t have to take another day off work!!

Well anyway, as I was saying… as the truck pulled out I got to work installing the Generator and housing.

I picked out a great location, about half way between where we camp and where the shed will be, a good dry spot in a nice little clearing. After a lot of huffing, puffing and heaving I managed to get the box off the trailer and the very heavy generator installed inside.

Proud of how I had managed to achieve this all by myself (see Mum and Dad I can achieve amazing things when I set my mind to it!) I fired up the generator and walked around marveling at how clever I was and how quiet the box made the generator. In the location I had selected, it was only a gentle hum from both the camp and the Shed location.

Damn I am good! All that was left was to chain the generator and box to a tree and……. “Oh CRAP!”

A clearing!!! There were no trees anywhere near the box!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

So, I huffed and puffed and pulled the generator back out again, using the quad bike and some rope to pull it over closer to a tree so I could chain it up!!! Guess I am not that clever after all!

Anyway, once I got it all back in the box and chained up, though I had better take some photos.

Big thanks for Paul for his assistance and advice on the box construction 😉

Right, big job done it was time to finish the sign. A quick spray with for fluro paint to make sure it stands out and I attached it with wire to the front fence. Now as I said it is not the prettiest, but at least we shouldn’t drive past the block in the dark again!!! Also will help to direct people in given we have no street number.

Right, jobs done it was time to explore my wet block, so I jumped on the quaddie and went for a burl… well slow ride through a lot of water.

“I do hope the delivery I was sent up here for was not just the reinforcement for the slab….” I thought, “Hmm….”

First thing I noticed was that the creek was running, and I don’t mean a little trickle, the creek was bursting at the seems!! I wasn’t game enough to ride up to the back of the block as I was sure I would get bogged!

Second thing is that the dam was very very full. Water was finally flowing out of the dam and there was a good current behind it too.

And the front Dam was very full as well with a good flow in from the street. Water water everywhere…..

So, generator done, sign done, exploring done, I was just starting to worry that I wasn’t going to get another delivery when I got the call. “Hi mate, I am at the end of Ramage road with a 44ft semi… am I going to be able to come down this road???”

“You should be able to” I said “I’m about 1km down on the right”

In the background on the call I could hear someone yelling “Don’t go down there!!”

“Tell you what” I said “I’ll jump in the car and come and meet you”.

So I lept into the car and raced down the road to the train track where I saw…. well nothing.

“Oh Oh” I thought as I raced back up the road fumbling with my phone to ring him back. “You came in from Shepparton didn’t you” I said “There is no way you can come in that way in a semi, the road is narrow and there is a deep creek that is probably flowing…”

…and flowing it was, as I approached the creek I made a decision that is rare for me “No way I’m going through that!!” Geeze I must be growing up and getting… what do you call it…. sensible!!!

Hard to tell from the photos, but that would have been over the roof of the car!

I directed the semi around through the town and agreed to meet him by the railway. As he rounded the corner, my heart sank. “No way you are going to get a truck that size onto the block without getting bogged” I announced, the driveway in and out was getting pretty muddy by this stage.

He asked if I had a trailer as it was just a small load, and I raced back to the bog…err…block to get it.

We loaded the “small” load onto the back of the trailer, all 900kgs of it and a I crawled very slowly back down the road to Little Duna.

I had to put the car in 4WD low range to get the car and heavily loaded trailer back to where the shed was going to go. Don’t show Anthony this next photo Kim as he may cry when he sees the poor little trailer…

Was as I was staring at the load on the trailer that I hear the noise of another truck slushing through the mud, it was Giovani the concreter coming out to meet me as planned.

We surveyed the location of the site, and as Giovani started pegging out the slab, I started breaking the Shed kit apart so I could get it off the trailer. Took me about an hour, and Giovani had to help with the last bit as it was too heavy, but I finally got there.

Giovani made good progress in boxing up the slab ready to pore the concrete. He said he was ready to do it tomorrow, except that the driveway was simply too wet and the concrete truck would end up bogged 🙁 Will have to wait a week or so for the ground to dry.

Anyway, was about 5pm when I finally had everything done and headed back out on the road one final time. I took a video to show just how boggy it had become during the day and you can hear where at one stage I get bogged in the mud.

Oh well, was a good successful day at the block and I managed to get everything I had planned done even if it wasn’t easy. Next trip will be on Saturday 12th July for the water tank. Hope it is a bit dryer, but not sure if it will be a weekend or another day trip 🙂

Sorry for the long post but there has been a lot going on. I’m too tired to go back and proof read it now, so forgive any wrong grammar or spelling!!

Cheers.

Categories: Adventures | Tags: BIG, KVA, Little Duna, VT | 2 Comments

A cold weekend at Little Duna

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Craig

So here we are again at Little Duna. Didn’t really think we would be back here so often during winter, but we just have so much fun we can’t stay away!!

Left a little later than usual last night, was just after 7:30pm by the time I pulled out the driveway, minus one usual passenger as Fi had a Thai cooking class on the Saturday so will join us Saturday night.

We arrived just before 10pm last night and the kids had to help me setup the van. While the ground was dry, there were a good number of new ponds, so we must have had some rain. Was a challenge to get the fire going, as everything was damp, but it wasn’t long before we managed to dry it out and get some heat. A good thing too because it was a very cold night getting down to 4pm overnight!! Will be happier tonight when Fi gets up here to keep me warm 😉

As the fire started to crackle, we heard the crack of a gun… spot lighters were out again shooting. This time they were across the road in front of the block, but there must have been a few of them because every time the saw something there were 3 or 4 bangs.

Jess started to freak out, and at one stage we actually thought they were on the road shooting into our property. I jumped in the car with the lights on high beam, spotlights blaring and even the fog lights, so they had a good 10 lights coming at them to make sure they knew where we were. As I got to the front on our property, I realised they were a good 500+ metres away from our front fence. Amazing how you loose perspective on distance at night.

As I drove away in the car, I said to the kids to hold Ruby, knowing she would follow… unfortunately, she slipped her collar and raced after me. Wasn’t an issue, as I saw her at the front gate and as I turned around to head back, she simply loped along beside the car. When I returned though, I found Jess balling worried that Ruby was going to get shot! I calmed here down, but that was enough for her and she took herself off to bed, sad that people were shooting rabbits.

I think Zac was a little afraid by the sounds of the war zone, crack, crack, crack and it wasn’t long before he disappeared into the caravan. Didn’t phase Tara though and she was happy to sit around the warmth of the fire listening to the shooters.

Was when I pointed out to Tara that it was midnight, she decided to take herself off to bed. I said “want me to come and tuck you in?”

“No thanks Dad” she replied “I can manage…” and off she went. Little miss independent!! I did have to come in about 10 minute later to turn the light off though!!!

So as I mentioned, it was a very cold night and I pretty much had to cocoon myself in the doona to stay warm. Also wasn’t very keen on the whole getting out of bed this morning, sleeping in until about 9:30am! Unheard of for me!!

Anyway, I had to get up and brave the cold in the end as I had to get to Benalla before midday to pick up a water pump for the water tank I had ordered and payed for. But not before I went for my usual trip around the block on the quaddie.

The place is very green with a lot of new ponds as I mentioned before. We must have seen some wild weather too, as there were a lot of new branches down around the place. The pile which is the remains of the bonfire was a little smaller than I had left it, so it had obviously burnt out a little more since we had left, but is now just a tangled mess of metal.

So anyway, got organised and headed into Benalla t get the water pump, then headed to the Violet Town cafe for some lunch before returning to Little Duna. I spent an hour or two on the chainsaw, removing some fallen branches which will now be used to keep us warm tonight 🙂

Given it is so cold and I have so much wood, we lit the fire so we will have a good bed of coals for the night. Think I will just spend the rest of the day sitting here to stay warm! Can already feel the temperature falling as the sun disappears behind the trees.

The kids all went for a wander as Tara and I discovered an amazing fact today on one of our rides… the creek flows the opposite way to what we thought!!! I always suspected it came from the north into the dam and then into the creek bed, but seems it comes in from the east, into the creek bed and then into the dam!! Amazing!!!

Hehe… the things we discover. Kushi wasn’t interested in a walk with the kids though and chose to just chill around the fire with me… think he is already worn out!Well that is all I have to report so far, Fi must have finished her course by now and so should be on her way… suppose I had better go and do the breakfast dishes before she gets here…lol

Have fun 🙂

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Little Duna, Violet Town | 1 Comment

Safe and Sound

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Craig

Today was a little less dramatic then yesterday, I awoke around eight after having sat up with Fi until 1am watching the smoldering heap that was a pile of rubbish 24 hours earlier. The pile had reduced down nicely, although there was a lot of metal rubbish in it that obviously didn’t burn.

Was still very hot and I could see a few places where the pile was glowing red like a furnace on the inside as the morning breeze fanned the flames.

Tara, hearing me wake also decided to come out, so for the next few hours the two of us rode around the block on the quad bike, exploring and having fun, Ruby never far behind.

About 9:30 I decided that I had better start tending to the smoldering pile, so with my shovel and rake I reduced its footprint by slowly shoveling the sides in on top until I had a nice sized pile. Then the fun began as I started to pour water all over it. The water bubbled and spat in the heat, in some cases evaporating before it even hit the pile!!!

Jess soon joined Tara and I as we made trip after trip to the dam with a 10L water container. Tara started on my quad bike, and Jess raced along on theirs. After a while, Tara wanted a go as well, so Jess would drive to the dam, and Tara would drive back, whoever wasn’t driving was on the bike with Dad.

This went on for about half an hour before the sound of the quads finally roused Fi and I thought it was time to stop for breakfast.

After a quick bite, it was time to start pouring water again. Once again, the girls raced back and forth from the dam, swapping on each leg. As their bike wasn’t as fast as mine, as soon as we would arrive at our destination the girls would swap and take off as I was either gathering or pouring water. This went on for ages, and the girls got more and more confident at riding their quad bike.

Jess quickly realized that while waiting at the first dam, she had time to have a bit of fun, so started riding to the second dam. Once she saw us arrive, she would come at full speed across the field, bouncing and laughing the whole way with a massive grin on her face 😀

Of course it was only a matter of time, and as Tara and I arrived back at the dam we saw Jess crying in the field with the quad bike on its side. I raced over and luckily she was ok. Helmets really are a good thing!! I raced her back to the van where Fi put some ice on her bruises and after a while she was all good again. Got a few war wounds to show for it.

At least she didn’t do any real damage and even got back on the bike later in the day as we were packing up. Brave little girl that one 🙂 and now she understands why you need to keep an eye out for the ditches in the field and not just go flat stick all the time.

Anyway, the day itself was absolutely gorgeous, so we made the most of it and took our time packing up. Once the fire was deemed safe enough, I went for a good ride around the block. I really do love having my Quad Bike back and working again 🙂 I probably did around 4 laps of the place before stopping, heading along the fence line and into more groves of trees that I hadn’t yet explored.

Once I returned to camp, I even managed to get Zac out taking Tara for joy rides. He was a little apprehensive at first as he was worried he would break Dad’s quad bike again. Wasn’t long before he was grinning and having fun. How many 12 year olds get to drive a big quad bike around a farm?

So it was about 4:30pm by the time we finally made our way out the front gate and headed home. Another great weekend of fun and Fi commented on the way home that it felt like we’d had a holiday.

PS – Now Zac takes great delight in pointing out that the last time we left, we said it would probably be months before we came back up due to the weather… so this time I told him the truth… “We will be back as soon as we possibly can!!”

Sorry mate, your friends and computer games will just have to wait!

Until the next adventure… have fun 🙂

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Quad Bike | Leave a comment

Little Duna is Burning!!

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Craig

The day started as any other up here.

Woke to the tranquil sounds of Little Duna. It is so peaceful up here and it is finally starting to feel like home. We arrived about 9:30pm Friday night, early really given how un -prepared we were, but having done it a few time recently it really didn’t take that long to pack after work before we were on our way.

The car felt a little heavier than usual, but this round I filled the bladder on the roof to almost bursting. Thank god I did, as I knew we would need the water!

When we left after the last trip on Anzac weekend, we said it would probably be months until we are back up here again, but given the weather was so good, and we had a pile of rubbish to burn, we decided to head back up.

Nothing much to say about Friday night, except that we arrived around 9:30pm, and with the full moon giving us almost a daylight like experience, it was a very easy setup. Wasn’t long before we were settled in with a nice fire going (getting good at this now) and was probably 1am by the time Fi and I realised and headed off to bed.

So, as I said, I woke to the tranquil sounds of Little Duna. Was about 8:30am by the time I dragged myself out of bed, and my first job for the morning was to fix the quad bike. Took me a while to get it going with a new shocker, but I must say riding it has never felt better. Makes such a difference having the right shock absorber. Loved heading off for my morning spin around the block, which I must say is amazingly green with very very full dams!

But anyway, as I said we were here to get rid of a pile of rubbish left by the previous owner. I had already given notice to the CFA, contacted the council and confirmed we didn’t need a permit as we are farming zoned, and sent the neighbour Jan an SMS to let her know we were planning on burning off.

So, 10am as I had told the CFA, I lit the bonfire…

I spent about 30 mins before hand clearing the leaves around the pile and removing excess fuel from the tree to the side of the fire before a little kerosene on one side and a match and we were under way.

Things started slow. There was no wind as I started, but as Murphy would have predicted, the wind started almost as soon as I lit it!

Here is a picture of the pile we had to burn once a match had been set…

Wasn’t long before we could see flames, and Zac and I set our selves down to watch it burn…

…and the wind started to pick up…

…and before long, things started to really take off…

…and about now I thought “oh crap, what have I done!”

The wind came through and pushed the flames straight into the tree off to the side. I could feel my heart really starting to beat, and the fire slowly started creeping along the ground towards the tree. Being so hot, there was nothing I could do but watch.

Was when a gust sent the flames into the leaves of the tree about 3m high that I yelled “Fi… get out of bed!!!”

I turned to see Fi already outside the van watching me, as the tree burst into flames….

The next 10-15 mins were absolutely frantic as I yelled orders to Fi and Zac. To their credit, there was no push back, no answering back, they lept into action…

“Zac” jump on the quad bike and refill my water container form the dam”

“Fi, back my car over here…. I need that water” Thank God I had over filled the bladder!!

The flames fuelled by the wind continued to creep along the ground towards the tree and suddenly we had not only a fire 3m up the tree, but the base was on fire as well!!!

As I used the shovel and rake to try to extinguish the flames, Zac returned from the dam with the water container barely full. I dumped the water on the fire and sent Fi off to fill it again as Zac grabbed the hoses from the van and we got the water on the car into action.

I managed to quickly get control of the situation again, but I must admit I was about two seconds away from calling the CFA for help!!!

The entire time the girls were crying wanting to be anywhere but there!! Fi has some more footage, so I’ll upload her pics and video at the end.

Anyway, about 10 mins later, I had everything under control again, the tree was out and the worst of the burn over. From here on in it was just a watching and waiting game.

Was only 1 hour later that the pile of rubbish looked like this…… but it wasn’t over yet. We spent a beautiful day sitting in the sun and watching the pile burn. I kept pushing it back onto itself to ensure it burned and reduced the footprint of the fire.

By about lunchtime I was comfortable that everything was under control, so Fi went off for a ride on the quad bike with jess following on hers…

Wasn’t too long before they returned and said that Jess’s bike had stopped and couldn’t start, so I had to drive over and get t going agin for them. Seems I am the only one who can start it, so that is going to get tiresome real soon!

All the excitement for the day was just too much for Kushi, and he collapsed to sun bake in the sun.

So the day was spent watching the fire as it slowly diminished, and taking it in turns riding the quaddie.

By late afternoon, the pile had reduced to a manageable size and I was comfortable to leave it to smoulder for the night. As I write this (about 10pm) I can see the glow of the remnants in the distance, but it should be fine until tomorrow.

Late in the arvo, I managed to get some footage of Fi on the Quaddie. Bet you never expected your daughter to be doing this Mike and Vicki!!!

So anyway, was an exciting and scary day, but our rubbish pile is gone. Can’t say I will be in any rush to have another bonfire again up here! Think I will stick to our old fashioned and small camp fires!!!

As promised, here is the footage Fi managed to capture from the day. Listen to that crackling fire!!

So that was our exciting day. Think the kids all learnt a valuable lesson of the dangers of a fire and how quickly things can get out of control. We were lucky as it could have been much worse. Anyway, all good and I’ll update you again tomorrow once we are home.

🙂

Categories: Adventures | Tags: CFA, Little Duna, SMS | 2 Comments

Skydiving

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Craig

Not a normal place to post something like this, but then again….. why not?

Back in November 2013, Vicki, Kelly and I all jumped out of a plane. I finally got around to compiling our video’s into a single movie.

enjoy 🙂

Categories: Adventures | 4 Comments

The trip is over

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Craig

It is always a sad day pack up day… means there is no more fun and have to go back to work tomorrow 🙁 At least at Little Duna we can have a late check out when ever we need it… I know the owners!!

Today was an especially sad packup for me as I think it might be a while before we come back. We had had 3 long weekends in a row really, so I shouldn’t complain, but we are heading into the colder and wetter months, so it is going to be harder to entice the family away camping. I suppose we really should spend a few weekends at home as well, there are a lot of things that have been put on the back burner the last few weeks ie: haircuts!

Today however, I woke to a glorious day. Sun was shining and the birds were chirping (see Dad there is bird life round here…). I spent a couple of hours this morning pushing seven large truck tyres from one side of the block to the other to make a few more modifications to what is changing from the kids little fort to Castle Le Duna. Should have taken a picture, but of course I forgot!

I did remember to take a photo of the post hole digger though!! Modelled below by Zac who kept saying “what is is Dad??”

Once I had shown him what it can do, he was amazed and starting digging holes until I took it off him to pack it away. Was also time to pack the quad bike away, so I made Zac help me with the tarp. He almost ran half way across the block when he saw the three large huntsman spiders that had made the tarp their home! Hard to tell from the photo with no reference, but they were a good size!!I told Zac that they had been there the last three times we had covered the quad bike, I had just flicked them out of the way. He kept his distance as I shook them off the tarp, and was very hard to coax him over to help cover the quad bike!

Anyway, that was about the extent of the excitement today. We slowly packed up and checked out about 2:30pm for a fairly uneventful drive home.

I’m sure I will have the odd day trip up to Little Duna in the coming months as the shed building begins… did I mention that already?? Signed up to build a shed last Thursday and I can’t wait for the work to begin! Will take around three months depending on the permits, so hopefully next time we are camping, we will have a 6mx9m shed to hang out in and no more spider tarp to cover the quad bike!!

Also, I can’t wait to see how the block changes as we move into winter then spring. The green grass will continue to grow and spring flowers begin to bloom. Only problem is I will have to start thinking about buying a slasher to cut the grass!!! Or maybe we just need some sheep….

Until next time, have fun and keep adventuring 🙂

Categories: Adventures | Tags: Castle Duna, Little Duna | 1 Comment

Building a driveway

Water Tank

What a mess!!

On Hold and a Guest House!

So much is happening!!

A cold weekend at Little Duna

Safe and Sound

Little Duna is Burning!!

Skydiving

The trip is over

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